An afternoon crime-spree came to an abrupt end with gunfire on Hwy 35 at the Forest City Limits last week.
On June 13, Rusty Squires, 51, of Quitman, allegedly went on a one-man crime spree and led deputies and law enforcement officers from three counties and multiple agencies on separate pursuits in two counties. The crime spree and pursuits finally came to an end with a brief exchange of gun fire just South of Forest in a field off Hwy 35.
One sheriff’s deputy said “this was like a scene out of a movie.” There were no reports of injuries sustained from the car chases, multiple alleged armed robberies, or the exchange of gunfire. In the end Squires was apprehended with force after allegedly committing numerous aggravated crimes across two counties.
The afternoon crime-spree reportedly started in Smith County where Squires allegedly robbed a man standing in his own driveway at gunpoint and then allegedly brandished his weapon to carjack a couple’s vehicle. Smith County deputies attempted to pull him over at which point Squires opened fire on the pursuing deputies.
Sometime thereafter, Squires was able to elude capture and escape from the chasing deputies. Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee, said, “Smith County did alert us that they had been fired upon and that the suspect was possibly coming into Scott County.”
It was not long after the warning from Smith County that Scott County Sheriff’s Department received a call reporting that a truck had been stolen at gun point. Mike Tolbert of Forest, was busy unloading his truck when Squires approached him and took his truck at gunpoint. “I was at home unloading some parts out of the back of my truck when this guy pulls up and says ‘I’m taking your truck’, I said ‘why’ and he pulls a gun on me and says ‘I’m taking your truck’ and I said ‘that’s fine,” says Tolbert.
After stealing Tolbert’s truck Squires was spotted by a constable at a convenience store. He then led the constable and deputies on an intense chase until he ran over a spike-strip that had been deployed. At that point the suspect lost control of the truck and slammed into another vehicle on Hwy 35 just North of Moore Tower Rd. But even the crash did not stop Squires.
Squires did his best to continue on but due to pursuing law enforcement, and the damage to the truck, he was forced to leave the highway and come to rest 200 yards off the road in an open field.
Numerous law enforcement officers quickly surrounded the suspect and had a “brief” exchange of gunfire with Squires before taking him into custody.
“He started to exit the vehicle and there was a very brief exchange of gunfire between deputies and the suspect,” Sheriff Lee said. “As he comes across the field he has a gun and as soon as they (deputies) come out with guns because of prior altercations and the armed robberies the suspect did give-up, or surrender.”
Even though Squires made the right decision by given up before the gunfire ended in casualty he fought with deputies to the bitter end. “I think that he very quickly came to the realization that he did not want to be shot and gave up even though he did put up a fight after the deputies got to where he had given up,” Lee said.
All law enforcement agencies involved worked together through quick and concise communication in order to bring the crime spree to an end without any injuries. Squires was taken into custody and remains in the Scott County Jail facing multiple felony charges.
